Pad for ironing table tops



April 7, 1942- T. JOHN 2,278,517

PAD FOR IRONING L fiWfl F3; 3 2 \la nventOr" Attorney Patented Apr. 7, 1942 PAD FOR IRONING TABLE TOPS Edward T. John, Minneapolis,

Minn., assignor to The J. R. Clark Company, Minneapolis, Minn.,

a corporation Application January 13, 1940, Serial No. 313,653

1 Claim.

My invention relates to pads for ironing table tops and has for its object to provide a pad adapted to overlie an ironing table top which when the same is being employed for ironing will have the efiect of keeping both moisture and heat away from the table top.

The pad is adapted to with. an all wood ironing table top or a wood ironing table top covered by a sheet of metal. In the former case, that is where wood alone comprises the ironing table top, heat alone will have substantially no effect upon the shape of the ironing table top. That is, the wood of the ironing table top will not be caused to change its shape to any substantial degree merely by the fact that it is heated. But moisture going through to the wooden ironing table top will cause it to expand and to change its shape and in time may produce warping or twisting and render the ironing table top ineffective. On the other hand, moisture will have no effect upon the shape of a metal ironing table top whether it be a whole metal top or a metallic sheathing over a wooden base. But heat causes such expansion of the metal as to produce serious change in shape and distortion which may result in buckling.

I have discovered that by applying to a table top, either formed of metal or of wood or of a wood base having a metallic cover, apad formed of fibrous heat-insulating material having a layer of metallic foil, that is, a thin heat-reflecting metallic sheet, such as tin foil, aluminum foil or the like, the results above mentioned will not take place. The material used may be any material which is at the same time a heat insulator and impervious to the passage of steam or moisture. Other than metallic foil I propose the use of a woven fabric treated or untreated, a paper or rubber compound, or any material having the characteristics above defined, which at the same time will be flexible enough to yield properly to pressure when the ironing operation is taking place over it.

It is therefore a principal object of my invention to provide a pad for ironing tables which shall embody a layer of heat-insulating material and a layer of moisture impervious material, said pad being formed of one sheet of the latter and either one or two separate layers of the heatinsulating material held together as may be desired.

It is a further object of my invention to provide in combination with such protective material means for holding it upon an ironing table top.

be used in connection The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and the novel features whereby is obtained the advantageous results therefrom are particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawing illustrating an application of my invention in some of its forms- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pad embodying the features of my invention shaped to conform to an ironing table top.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through a part of such a pad.

Fig. 3' is a sectional view taken through a pad embodying a single layer of each type of material employed.

Fig. 4 shows the pad applied to an ironing table top which embodies a sheet metal cover portion.

Fig. 5 shows a form of the pad applied to an ironing table top which is formed entirely of wood.

As shown, a pad I0 is formed having the outline of a standard ironing table top. The pad illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises three layers of material, a top layer H of fibrous material, a central layer l2 of metallic foil and a bottom layer l3 of fibrous material. The fibrous material employed may be felt, sponge rubber, mineral wool or any desirable type of material which is heat-insulating and which at the same time will yield to the pressure of the iron when the ironing operation is taking place over the pad. In Fig. 4 the pad i0 is shown applied to an ironing table top embodying a wood base M to which is secured a sheet metal cover I5, the cover IS in this instance having curved flanged portions l6 which take into a central annular groove ll about the ironing table top to hold the sheet metal plate 15 on the base 16. A cloth cover N3 of any desired material overlies the top of pad I0 and is secured as at [9 and 20 to the back of the base member M.

In the form of invention illustrated in Figs. 3 and 5, the wooden base member M has no metal cover but is itself an ironing table top. In this case the single form of pad of Fig. 3 may be employed rather than the double form of Fig. 2. This form embodies a layer 20 of heat-insulating material and a sheet 2| of metallic foil or similar material which is impervious to moisture. This is laid directly upon the wood surface of the base l4 and is held in position by a cloth cover 22 secured'at 23 and 24 in the manner in which the cover I8 is secured. In this form of application of invention, where the wood ironing table factorily an ironing table top either entirely of wood or of wood with a metallic cover member and prevent the disadvantageous results which follow from the transmission of either moisture or heat to the surface.

I claim:

In association with an ironing table top including a wood base member and an overlying sheet metal cover secured thereto, a pad for said table top embodying two layers of fibrous heat-insulating material each layer of substantial thickness, a layer of metal foil between them which is impervious to the passage of water or steam and which is protected in use by the said fibrous layers, a fabric cover adapted to overlie and hold the pad in position on the table top, the said fibrous layers being adapted to directly contact the surface of the sheet metal cover with one side and to be contacted by the fabric cover at its other side.

EDWARD T. JOHN. 

